NESTING SITE at Bodega Head shows a sandy cliff dotted with the homes of solitary bees. They include Anthophora bomboides stanfordiana (faux bumble bee), which builds turrets and the Colletes fulgidus longiplumosus, which shares the same cliff faces but does not build turrets, according to native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp of UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

FROM THE BACK, the yellow-faced bumble bee is shaped somewhat like a bullet. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Put on a Happy Face

SPORTING its trademark feathery yellow hair on its face and a yellow band around its abdomen, a yellow-faced bumble bee (Bombus vosnesenskii), leaves rock purslane. This one is a male, as identified by native pollinator specialist and noted bumble bee expert Robbin Thorp of the University of California, Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)